American Doctor Jerry Umanos Killed In Afghanistan Has Detroit Ties

Jerry Umanos, second from left, is seen posing with his son and other family members in January, 2014 (credit: Grand Rapids Police)

DETROIT (WWJ) – One of the three American doctors killed at that hospital in Afghanistan has ties to Metro Detroit. Before heading to Chicago’s Lawndale Christian Health Center, Dr. Jerry Umanos completed his medical school training at Wayne State University School of Medicine in 1982, and did his residency at Children’s Hospital of Michigan.

Dr. Maryjean Schenk, Wayne State Vice Dean of Education says, she didn’t know Umanos personally, but she’s not surprised he dedicated his life to caring for vulnerable children.

“I’m sure that through his training at Children’s Hospital of Michigan he was well-prepared and wanted to serve, obviously, in his field of pediatrics to those most in need,” Schenk, told WWJ’ Health Reporter Sean Lee.

“Obviously (he was) a wonderful role model and example for our students,” Schenk said. “I know that it’s a big loss for the people of Kabul, and it is just a very sad thing and a tragic event.”

An ambulance carrying victims of a shooting leaves through the gate of the Cure hospital in the Afghan capital Kabul on April 24, 2014. A guard shot dead three foreigners at a US charity hospital in Kabul on April 24, the Afghan government said, with hospital staff saying at least one of the victims was a foreign doctor. (Photo credit: SHAH MARAI/AFP/Getty Images)

Umanos was married with three adult children. His son Ben was just sworn in as a Grand Rapids Police Officer in January.

The shooting at Cure International Hospital in western Kabul was the latest in a string of deadly attacks on foreign civilians in the Afghan capital this year. An American nurse also was wounded.

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